Welcome to the Reception
Rainbow Page
Welcome
Hello Reception Friends
Life at the moment continues to be a challenge for everyone, but please remember that the Staff at Abbey Hill are here to support you.
Grown-ups, you are now helping your children learn at home and we know this can be difficult.
We will now put extra work on our webpage every week, which will link with the activities in your Reception work packs. Remember to look at the purple sections, for the latest activities.
The next work packs will be delivered at the beginning of February.
You are able to contact the Reception Staff for support, either by phoning the School, or emailing the early years email address. The instructions are included in your pack.
Take care and talk again soon.
Mrs. Cartwright-Fretwell, Mrs Wilkinson & the FS Team 💕
Home Learning
The packs we have sent home will help your children make progress with their writing, phonics, maths and creative skills.
We will also link you to some excellent sites, recommended for Reception children.
Click on the links I have put on this page and share the work together.
The themes for the Spring First Half Term are:
Week 1 – 5 Down on the farm!
Key Knowledge
We want the children to be able to use their words to:
- Talk about which animals live on a farm.
- Name the areas where the animals live e.g. a pig lives in a sty.
- Say the correct name of baby animals: foal, kid, piglet, chick, lamb, calf, duckling, puppy, kitten.
- Talk about which animals provide milk, eggs and wool.
Week 6 – The Chinese New Year
Key Knowledge
We want the children to be able to use their words to:
- Talk about how the Chinese New Year is celebrated.
- Re-tell the story of how the animals have a year named after them and say that in 2021 it is the year of the Ox.
Valentine’s Day
On the last day of term, the children will have a fun day, as we enjoy many activites based on the themes of red and love!
Week 1-5
Down on the farm!
Key Knowledge
We want the children to be able to use their words to:
- Talk about which animals live on a farm.
- Name the areas where the animals live e.g. a pig lives in a sty.
- Say the correct name of baby animals: foal, kid, piglet, chick, lamb, calf, duckling, puppy, kitten.
- Talk about which animals provide milk, eggs and wool.
Stories to share together
The Ugly Duckling
Enjoy listening to the Ugly Duckling Story!
The Three Little Pigs
The Little Red Hen
Topsy and Tim at the farm
When you have watched the stories together, then please talk about them. These are some things you can talk about:
- Who is in the story? (the characters)
- What happens at the beginning, middle and end of the story? (It is really important that we talk about where these sections are in the stories).
- What is your favourite part of the story and why?
Farm Activivities
These are some ideas to try at home:
- Talk about the lifecycle of a duck or chicken
- Cook eggs in many different ways: boiled, scrambled, fried, poached – which is your favourite?
- Draw your favourite farm animal. Grown-ups, help your child to label the picture e.g pig
Phonics and Reading
- It is important that you keep learning the phase 2 and 3 ‘Tricky Words’ – the to I no go into he she we me be was my you they her all.
- We are now learning digraphs. This is when two letters are joined together to make one sound sh ch th ng ai ee oa oo ar or ur ow oi er
- We are also going to learn some trigraphs. This is when three letters are joined together to make one sound igh ear air ure
- Our children are now becoming more confident at blending words. Grown-ups, please help your child to blend the words when they are reading their reading books
Developing Pencil Control and Writing
- This term we are starting our daily writing time. We will support the children to write their names and the letters of the alphabet correctly.
- We will support the children to write words such as dog, cat, bed, mat etc. and some ‘tricky words’.
- For those children who are ready, we will start to write simple sentences e.g. The pig is pink.
Maths
This term we are teaching the children the following topics:
- Introducing Zero – Comparison to 5
- Comparison to 5 – Composition to 5
- Compare Mass (2) – Compare Capacity
Week Beginning 18.01.21
Home Learning
A message from the Reception Staff
The Three Little Pigs
Hello Reception friends
It is so lovely to hear that you are trying very hard with your work at home.
We miss seeing you at School and are looking forward to when we can all be together again.
This week we would like you to carry on working hard, so you do not get behind with your learning.
Our main story this week is The Three Little Pigs. We have put some activities for this story in your pack.
If you have not finished your work on The Ugly Duckling, that is fine. You can still do the activities, as we will continue learning about farm animals for the next three weeks.
Every day click on:
1 phonics lesson
1 literacy lesson
1 maths lesson
Have fun choosing a ‘Wake up your body’ and a ‘Song of the week’
Choose an activity in your pack to do with your grown-up
Let’s start the day by singing our morning songs!
What is the weather today?
The days of the week
The sign of the week
Phonics
The DFE has put some Phonics lessons on You Tube, which can be shared at home. The lessons will help your child to read letters and begin to blend, so they are able to read words.
This week we will reinforce ch and sh. We will also introduce th and ng.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Oak National Academy
Literacy Lessons
This week, we have put a link every day to the Department for Education funded online classroom.
The lessons are all based on the story The Three Little Pigs. We will put on 5 lessons this week and 5 next week.
Monday lesson 1: To listen to and join in with a story
In this lesson children will hear the story of The Three Little Pigs. They will begin to join in with repeated refrains.
https://classroom.thenational.academy/units/the-three-little-pigs-3ac4
Tuesday lesson 2: To map and speak the story
In this lesson children will create a story map. They will then use this story map to tell the story. This will help them to learn the story by heart.
https://classroom.thenational.academy/units/the-three-little-pigs-3ac4
Wednesday lesson 3: To step and speak the story
In this lesson children will add actions to their telling of the story and step these to help them commit the story to memory.
https://classroom.thenational.academy/units/the-three-little-pigs-3ac4
Thursday lesson 4: To mime the moods in the story
In this lesson we will explore mood through the medium of mime.
https://classroom.thenational.academy/units/the-three-little-pigs-3ac4
Friday lesson 5: To dance the moods in the story
In this lesson we will explore mood through the medium of dance.
https://classroom.thenational.academy/units/the-three-little-pigs-3ac4
Maths
White Rose Maths
At School we use White Rose Maths, when we plan our Magic Maths lessons.
Click on the White Rose Maths Logo below so that your child can have a daily MATHS lesson. This is REALLY important so your child doesn’t miss any steps in their learning.
This week click on Alive in five! – Week 2 and your child can watch the Miss Cooper deliver 5 fantastic lessons. Click on the video for each day.
The focus this week is: Comparison to 5 and Composition to 5
BBC Bitesize Maths – BBC Teach Maths
To help reinforce the numbers 1-10, join Rodd, who uses rhymes and songs to make learning fun!
Click on the link below
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/class-clips-video/maths-ks1-counting-with-rodd/zmdk6v4
Numberblocks
At School we also use the Numberblocks on CBeebies Iplayer to teach the children about number. Enjoy this episode called Numberblocks – Three Little Pigs
When you have clicked the picture, click Watch on You Tube
Follow the link below for some more Numberblock episodes. Look at Series 1
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08bzzns/numberblocks-series-1-one
Free eBook library from Oxford Owl
Click on the link below to register and use the reading books from Oxford Owl
Wake up your body!
Enjoy waking up your body together. We enjoy these times in School!
New!
Song of the week
Enjoy singing our Reception songs together.
New!
Week Beginning 11.01.21
Home Learning
A New Story!
The Ugly Duckling
Phonics
The DFE has put some Phonics lessons on You Tube, which can be shared at home. The lessons will help your child to read letters and begin to blend, so they are able to read words.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Maths
White Rose Maths
At School we use White Rose Maths, when we plan our Magic Maths lessons.
Click on the White Rose Maths Logo below so that your child can have a daily MATHS lesson
This week click on Alive in five! – Week 1 and your child can watch the teacher deliver 5 fantastic lessons. Click on the video for each day.
Oak National Academy
Lesson 1
To know the names for the offspring animals
In this lesson with Miss Hughes, we will think about animals that live on a farm and learn to identify their offspring. At the end of the lesson, you will test your new knowledge by matching the baby animals to the adult animals.
Lesson 2
To know what farm animal offspring need to grow
In today’s lesson, we join Miss Sidenius in learning about how farm animals grow, including what different farm animals need to grow. We end the lesson with a fun task creating some potato print chicks, just like you might see on a farm. To extend this lesson, you could talk about other baby animals that you might find on a farm.
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Lesson 3
To sequence the life cycle of an animal
In today’s lesson we join Mrs Garrard to learn about animal life cycles. We will learn vocabulary associated with life cycles and to end the lesson, we will make a representation of a baby animal.
Week 6
The Chinese New Year
This week the children will learn about the Chinese New Year. Our children will learn how the Chinese New Year is celebrated and enjoy some fun and educational activites.
Watch these Programmes
Preparing for the Chinese New Year
Celebrating the Chinese New Year
What is my child learning in the Reception Class and how can I help them at home?
We firmly believe at our School, that teaching your children is a partnership between Home and School.
At School
In our Reception Class, the children learn through planned taught sessions, where they sit and learn in large and small groups. Letters and Sounds, Magic Maths, Daily Writing, Small Group Reading and Topic Work are all taught in this way.
We also believe that the children need time to learn through exploring and engaging in activities which interest them. Our daily ‘Busy Time’ provides activities which are planned by the FS Staff and activities which the children have chosen. Deep learning takes place when the children play and explore, they have opportunities for active learning and the activities encourage them to problem solve.
At Home
On our Reception Webpage, we will provide activities which you can do at home.
We have provided an overview of the areas of learning and we will also put on work linked to our half termly topics.
At home, life can be very busy, but by finding just a little bit of time to share these fun activities, we are working together to support your child’s development and learning.
The themes for the Autumn Second Half Term were Bonfire Night, Autumn, Remembrance Day, Diwali, Toys, Winter and Christmas
We have taught the children to use their words to:
- Describe what happens to trees in Autumn
- Talk about some of the animals which hibernate and what hibernation mean
We have also taught the children about Diwali and how it is celebrated
We have provided a variety of stories for you to watch together and then suggested some things you can talk about:
- Who is in the story? (the characters)
- What happens at the beginning, middle and end of the story? (It is really important that we talk about where these sections are in the stories).
The children have learnt why we celebrate Christmas and how it is celebrated
The themes for the Autumn First Half Term were Ourselves and Our Senses
We have taught the children to:
Name and point to the main areas of their bodies: head, eyes, nose, ears, mouth, cheeks, neck, shoulders, arms, elbows, hands, fingers, legs, knees, feet and ankles
We have also taught the children about the five senses:
Sight
Smell & Taste
Hearing
Touch
Stories
We have enjoyed the story Peace at Last and have spoken about the sounds Mr Bear heard in the night, when he could not get to sleep. Can you remember them? Listen to the story again together.
Little Red Riding Hood
When Little Red Riding Hood arrives at Grandma’s house, she notices that Grandma doesn’t look her usual self! Help your child to join in with Little Red Riding Hood as she talks to the Wolf, dressed as Grandma! ‘Oh Grandma, what big ears you have!’
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
These are the ‘Golden Rules’ we have taught our children:
Kind hands for sharing (friends)
Walking feet (inside)
Quiet voices (inside)
Listening ears
Communication and Language
Over the next few weeks as we introduce the new themes and stories, it will really help your child, if you encourage them to talk about the topics and re-tell the stories using their own words.
Developing children’s vocabulary and helping them have the confidence to put their thoughts into words, is so important for Reception children.
Sharing songs together is great, because the children have fun and songs are fantastic for developing language!
The BBC have created a site which has great songs, which your children can sing along to! Click on the link below
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/nursery-rhymes-songs-index/zhwdgwx
Mrs Walton’s top tips
Hi, My name is Mrs Walton and I am one of the Speech and Language Teaching Assistants here at Abbey Hill. You may have seen me working throughout the Foundation Stage Unit. I specialise in supporting children with language and communnication difficulties, 1-1 or in a small group.
Working closely with Speech and Language Therapists, I have been fortunate to develop my skills over the years and I am now in a position to offer training to teaching staff to further help support children’s communication and language development.
If you need any advice or just a general chat regarding your child’s language and communication development, talk to a member of the FS Staff and they will let me know 😊.
Talking together
No matter how old I am one of the best ways to help my speech and language development is to have some quiet time with me so we can talk, look at books together or sing nursery rhymes. It is always best to make sure the T.V is switched off and there is little background noise.
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- I love singing nursery rhymes; this helps support my language development
- I love playing make-believe games and enjoy it the most when you join in too. Make a pretend cup of tea with me or help make dolly better.
- Now my language is developing, it’s ok if I stumble or make mistakes in my talking – sometimes I’m finding the right words to say. Give me lots of time to talk and try not to draw attention to my mistakes.
- When I am playing, try to extend my sentences so I can hear different words e.g I say “The man is in the car” you say “The man is driving the big red car”
- I enjoy playing games now and playing board games with me helps me to concentrate and learn how to take turns. Games like ‘Simon Says’ or ‘Musical Statues’ will help to develop my attention and listening skills.
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I enjoy sharing books with you – especially ones with rhymes. When you have told me a story, ask me if I can tell it back to you. This helps my language development and my understanding.
Challenge!
We challenge you to put on your woolly jumpers and your wellies to go and find all things autumnal! Create a poster or a display of your favourite finds. This is a great way to get talking and learn new vocabulary!
You may find Conkers, Pumpkins, Crunchy leaves and Pinecones. You may also notice new sounds such as a squirrel rustling in the trees, a trickling of water or the whistling of the wind. See what you can discover this Autumn. Have fun!!!
Physical Development
Physical exercise is so important for our children. Just like you, we want our children to be fit and healthy.
Every day we plan for activities in our outdoor classroom to develop their gross and fine motor skills.
These are some activities your children can do at home for extra fun!
Paint with water. Your child will love painting a fence, using a bucket filled with water and a large painting brush.
Blow some bubbles and watch them run! Children love chasing after bubbles and popping them and it also tires them out!
Make an assault course. Pretend to be a Pirate stepping over shark infested water and walking the plank. Children are so good at using their imaginations!
Washing our hands
For all of us, washing our hands regularly has become so important. At School we teach the children to wash their hands for 20 seconds by helping them count to 20, or by singing a favourite Nursery Rhyme e.g. ‘Twinkle. Twinkle, Little Star.
The song below, also teaches the children the importance of washing their hands and how to do it. Click on the link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDHJW4r3elE
In Reception, we also start teaching our children about food. They learn about eating fruit and vegetables, which help us grow big and strong. We also learn about the food which we can eat, but should eat a smaller amount of e.g. chocolate, sweets, crisps and biscuits.
The songs below are great for sharing with the children.
Literacy
Writing
It is really important that we help our children to hold their pencil correctly in the tripod grip, which we call ‘birdy fingers’ at School. Many children find it difficult to hold a pencil like this and so it is important grown-ups that we work together and help our children.
Supporting our children to write their name
Over the next few weeks, we are concentrating on helping our children to form the letters of their name.
We always teach the children to write a capital letter at the beginning of their name and then write small letters after:
Julie
We are also supporting the children to learn to write all the letters of the alphabet, linked to our Letters and Sounds lessons.
The children have the opportunity to write on large paper with felt tip pens, crayons and colour pencils, whiteboards with whiteboard pens and outside on the floor with chalks.
It is also important that our children have fun with writing patterns, as this helps with their letter formation.
Literacy
Reading
Helping our children to read
Learning to read is not easy and that is why it is so important for us to work together to teach our children.
Important!
On the menu bar on our School website, one of the sections is Reading and Phonics. Click on this link to see our Top Tips for Reading at Home with Younger children.
What will my child bring home in Reception?
- Every Friday your child will bring home a reading book, which must be returned every Monday
- The Letter Sounds we are teaching your children will be sent home for you to practice. We use the Jolly phonics actions and songs, to help the children remember the sounds.
- Some words cannot be sounded out. We teach the children that these are ‘Tricky words’. The children are learning the Phase 2 tricky words, before learning Phase 3.
Phonics Websites
Teach your Monster to Read
https://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/
Mathematics
Number recognition is really important. At the end of Reception we aim for our children to name the numbers 0-20, when the numbers are shown one at a time.
In the Autumn and first half of the Spring Term, we help the children to be confident naming the numbers 0-10.
Counting objects is really important, so please, as I know you are already doing, count together in many different ways e.g. when you climb up steps, the number of plates you put out for dinner and how many jumps you can do in a minute. Even better, show your child the number after, so they understand how the action and the number link together.
At School we use the Number Blocks to help the children understand about numbers to 10 and later numbers to 20.
You can find the Number Blocks on CBeebies I Player to share with your children
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08cr24d/numberblocks-series-1-how-to-count
White Rose Maths
At School we use White Rose Maths, when we plan large and small group activities for your children.
Click on the link below to have a look at the activities 😊
https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/early-years/